A little history.

This boat left Algonac on May 28th. 1940, and was delivered to Washington DC. I believe the boat was kept in Virginia most of it's seaworthy life. You can see the outline of the boat registration, VA 7418 B, on it's bow. It would be cool to track this down, and find it's original owners or their family.

During production, the hull number was punched into the wood several places on the boat. Inside the hatch frame and on the hatches them self. Pretty cool......



I need to look into suppliers for the engine work. Van Ness Engineering has done great wonders on other engines from gray boats, and Mark Dawson is renowned for his work on gauges. Have a feel it's going to get expensive very soon........

Have started to disassemble of the interior, or what's left of it. Most of the rot appear to be between the forward seat and steering column. Got some rot on top of the starboard stringer, maybe 1/2" deep. I've either have to replace the entire stringer or make a "dutchman". I'll make the decision when it's turned over.

1940 17' Chris Craft Deluxe, No. 71648.

Well, here she is. After two years of studying frame up boat restoration, my new project is in the drive way. And I'm getting ready for 2000 or so hours of restoration work. The 17' Barrelback, manufactured in '40, '41' and '42 is one of the most collectable Chris Craft antique boats, with only 425 made. Even though I'm a woodworker by trade, new skills need to be learned. Steam bending is all new to me. I'll update the blog as I go along with the restoration. Hints and problems will be listed.